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More religiously conservative Protestants? More divorce,


doggie

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This is an interesting study and it is not just protestants that have the problem

Divorce is higher among religiously conservative Protestants – and even drives up divorce rates for other people living around them, a new study finds.

The study, slated to be published in the American Journal of Sociology, tackles the “puzzling paradox†of why divorce is more common in religiously conservative “red†states. If religious conservatives believe firmly in the value of marriage, why is divorce especially high in places like Alabama and Arkansas?

To figure that out, researchers from the University of Texas and the University of Iowa analyzed county divorce statistics against information from an earlier study of religious congregations. They categorized Protestant denominations that believe the Bible is literally true as "conservative Protestants."

Researchers discovered that higher divorce rates among conservative Protestants were tied to earlier marriages and childbearing – factors known to ramp up divorce. Starting families earlier tends to stop young adults from pursuing more education and depresses their wages, putting more strain on marriages, University of Texas at Austin professor Jennifer Glass said.

But the study went a step further: Glass and another researcher also discovered that people living in areas with lots of conservative Protestants were at higher risk of getting divorced, even if they weren’t conservative Protestants themselves.

County by county, for every 1% increase in the share of conservative Protestants compared with mainline Protestants, the divorce rate increased 0.02%, the study found. Glass argued that community institutions in such areas might encourage early marriage, affecting divorce rates for everyone who lives there.

“Pharmacies might not give out emergency contraception. Schools might only teach abstinence education,†Glass added. On top of that, “if you live in a marriage market where everybody marries young, you postpone marriage at your own risk. The best catches … are going to go first.â€

The study also found that it was not poverty nor higher rates of marriage, on the whole, that were driving up divorce in “red†counties, as others had theorized.

“It’s surprising,†said W. Bradford Wilcox, director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia. “In some contexts in America today, religion is a buffer against divorce. But in the conservative Protestant context, this paper is showing us that it’s not.â€

Wilcox added that the study also showed that more “secularism†– people not adhering to any religious tradition – was also linked to higher rates of divorce.

The nonprofit Council on Contemporary Families, where Glass is a senior scholar, provided a map to illustrate how divorce rates and populations of conservative Protestants overlap. "Young people of every religious belief -- or none -- are influenced by cultural climate," it wrote in an announcement on the study.

http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/l ... z2qruYD4H6

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It's almost as if marrying young, being against education, having a ton of kids, and living in poverty might be stressful on a marriage.

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of course they will overall evangelical christians have a higher divorce rate then regular christians. all evil feminism of course.

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I think it's not only young marriages that create this issue, but the amount of disdain and disgust that is taught in this churches about anything remotely approaching a willingness or learning the skills to compromise.

I mean, not about *anything*. Not about the duties one takes on in the home, on negotiating your intimate relationship or friendships, not on non-essential doctrine, politics, music, education, media consumption?

EVERYTHING must adhere to very specific and narrow standards of focus and right or wrong, and if you fuck up at all you re doomed. There is no grace, no redemption, except in hymns and lip service.

And since everyone DOES fuck up, the anger/hatred that's directed at oneself is only naturally going to spill over into becoming more anxious/angry/controlling towards one's partner and children and looking for any excuse to project some of that blame and guilt on them.

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Yes plus the lack of experience. These people are expected to be pure or at least virgins. Like going to a mechanic that has never worked on a car. No way the dugger children will know true love from lust or puppy love.

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Reminds me about the recent study showing that Massachusetts has the lowest divorce rate in the nation. Yes, Massachusetts, what with all the ebil Catholics and intellectuals and so on. One of the marriage success factors cited, though, was relative physical proximity and emotional closeness with extended family (we New Englanders, for the most part, tend to live smooshed together). Maybe being supportive AND open-minded makes people into good parents and in-laws of newlyweds?

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Yes plus the lack of experience. These people are expected to be pure or at least virgins. Like going to a mechanic that has never worked on a car. No way the dugger children will know true love from lust or puppy love.

That's true, and for them, premarital sex is seen as one of the most serious sins one can commit. This is why they often have short courtships and engagements as the couple might be tempted by their evil hormones.

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